viduthalaiyin pathaagai by sukirtharani

When we called some of the women writers, everyone was too scared to come forward. But is that hope the same for Dalit women? They advised us to curtail our voice and protests. About Pathinettu Vayathu. He was son of Ganapati. That was the form of literature I fell in love with. planted in my vagina. I was proud to be a Dalit and that happened during my college years. That could have happened to me. Tamil Dalit feminist poet Sukirtharani opens up about her childhood, her Dalit identity in poetry and the Dalit women's resistance. There were even demonstrations against us. ,`��j�����KU:ԭ����]IP��6�5]���R�"1Q!����FxK]�@��2 They spoke in innuendoes, ostracising us for writing about feminism. Where is my mother’s home? If there is a dispute between the upper caste men over laying a road, they will fight it out amongst themselves and resolve. So I realised that finding my own voice will take some time. If you’re feminist, you’re damned. I confide in my friends and fellow writers. I can never be hushed, I will still rise. Did you embark on shedding the skin of shame with this poem? We are always identified only through the male members of the family in our society. We can never define feminism by one standard. ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ-ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿತ್ವ ವಿಕಸನ Now I am free. I have five siblings – three sisters and two brothers. The society censures female sexuality. endobj I never understood caste as a child and didn’t have the maturity to deal with it, I was confused then. Do Dalit women particularly go through a tumultuous relationship with feminism? Love and sex are the same and even if they are not, the two desires emerge from the same body. Every experience of oppression was directly physical and the body carried it. Please don’t jump to conclusions and assumptions. At one point of my life, I was ashamed of my caste. Vidyapati Thakur(1352 - 1448) Vidyapati Thakur, also known by the sobriquet Maithil Kavi Kokil (the poet cuckoo of Maithili) was a Maithili poet and a Sanskrit writer. Sukirtharani has six collections of poetry to her credit: Kaipattri Yen Kanavu Kel, Iravu Mirugam, Kaamatthipoo, Theendapadaatha Muttham, Avalai Mozhipeyarthal and Ippadikku Yeval. All these questions evolved into poems later. I was gripped by fear. Yes, there weren’t many poems about it, nor did people read such writings in the 1990s. <>stream 4 0 obj At that moment I was both confused and hurt, and found out much later why she behaved so. In the book Iravu Mirugam(animal of the night), you explore caste and Dalit identity through your body. The first poem I wrote was about how the earth is round, but when I looked out of the window, I saw the world flailing and twitching and bending into shapes other than round. Sukirtharani requests at the beginning of the interview. They both went through the same kind of barbarism. In festivals or funerals, parai is an important part of the rituals. She organised the poet’s protest in … “I know English, but this is the language that runs in my blood, and I am also learning to assert myself in front of people,” she says with a soft smile. I will pour down. I myself will become Nature’s fountainhead. I got a call one night from an unknown person. Triesten Technologies LLC, Westmoor Technology Park,10955 Westmoor Drive,Suite #4100, 4th Floor,Westminster, Colorado - 80021.USA. How do you view your body after you articulate these strong thoughts? Human translations with examples: english, land pathiram, thai pathiram, kiraya pathiram, release of deed. Many of her poems are taught in colleges across Tamil Nadu and have been translated into English, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and German. My grandfather played parai (the musical instrument after which the Dalits in Tamil Nadu were named as Pariah) in events of the village. A woman’s space is only a space when it is connected to a man’s space. Was this the start? Bharathi has written about a child drinking milk from a mother’s breast. x��W�n�F}�W�[m@V,�N�47ub$��M^�2��F�]fw)F���n��R�S�QA�\��̙3�/�����)],t[LN�d�T.]�i~A�����t��z^��}�Ŗ[��nk^w��h��|A'4? The village, where I am living is not my home; it is my father’s home. He said, “I also want to feel your body against mine.”. And if there’s space for Dalit writing, so why shouldn’t there be one for Dalit women, I thought. This is something that has happened to some prominent female poets too. In order to process that fear, I started writing. It’s as simple as that. What were the subjects that interested you? endobj %���� My generation was the first to earn a degree. The men belonging to the upper caste are the next challenge, because they feel they have the right to assert their power even more. It’s one of my most favourite poems. Both my parents didn’t cross the primary level of education. I personally think that problems of Dalit women are different from the women of other castes. My poetry has never been packed with any sort of requests or begging anyone to do or not to do something. Compared to the pain upper caste women undergo, in my opinion, Dalit women go through worse. There was a poem I wrote that describes the female body akin to a piece of music. Even in the past, lyricists like Palani Barathi and Snehan launched an attack on feminist poets. But when it happens to women of lower castes, the treatment is always different as was in the case of Priyanka. 6 0 obj They are also from myriads of other people and places. <>stream <>>>/Contents 6 0 R/Parent 3 0 R>> When I was studying in class 2, there was an incident that I can never forget. For some, feminism may be about having the right to go to pubs and stay out late at nights. But what was the spark and how did the subjects of your poetry transform? But I couldn’t openly identify myself with that term. You map Dalit history using the female body. My work is mainly about female emancipation and I also focus on the Dalit women. I actually wrote the poem when I was 25. sky But what is important is the common thread of women’s freedom that runs through. Feminism is supposed to be inclusive. books . But when it comes to women, they are immediately cast out. Where is the space for a woman if we only take after men? In one of your popular untitled poems, you talk about how it was shameful to bring up your father’s occupation as a pariah labour as a child and how you would say to your friends that the leftover rice from your alms was fresh rice to hide your caste identity. A wellspring of ideas, thoughts and questions flowed, which metamorphosed into poems. So that awareness of caste at such a tender age must have hit you like a ton of bricks. Her awards include Thevamagal Kavithoovi Award, the Puthumaipitthan Memorial Award and the Women’s Achiever Award by the Pengal Munnani (Women’s Front). I wrote short poems in which I could convey how I feel, instead of reams of pages of stories. It was my first experience of prejudice. I wanted to return her kindness so I bought her a sweet the next day. Now, keep in mind, this is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart. Be it Nirbhaya or Priyanka, both of them were seen more as female bodies than as female beings. I am not cursing all men, but some could not take it. Normally, a feminine body is disrespected, but a Dalit feminine body is almost hated. My father protested and the panchayat called him and cast him out of the village. Your physical and sensual awakening is juxtaposed with the assertion of your caste identity and reclamation of your history. How young were you when you had your first encounter with inequality? For her, the recognition of Dalit literature and writers in recent times has brought her out of her shell, and provided a sense of comfort in herself and her work. 7 0 obj There is a line in the poem Viduthalaiyin Pathaagai: Rohith Vemula is an icon. I pray to God to give you and your family the strength to cope up with this Tough time, May her soul rest in peace. Many of Sukirtharani’s poems are being taught in colleges in Tamil Nadu. That is why I weave caste and body narratives together. water Ambedkar as they block the traffic during a protest in Ahmedabad against the assault on Dalit members by cow protectors in Rajkot district, Gujarat. At the top of the pole planted in my vagina the flag of our freedom shall fly painted in the colour of blood. If we are the children of God, then whose children are the others? We’re in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step toward reducing our deficit. But if it is up against a Dalit family, female bodies are dragged into the violence, which is the most deplorable plight that still prevails. It is only laced externally with personal experiences. It is simply a biological feeling. I started reading a lot of translated poems, from Kamala Das and Taslima Nasreen to some African poets. and hang me on your wall like a river in sudden flood. Yes, that’s the crux of intersectionality. It was a collective experience of many Dalits. It gave me an understanding of how it feels to be deprived of rights as a woman. My mother’s village is her father’s village. Not all my writings are my own experiences; they are every other woman’s or Dalit woman’s experiences. We need to understand that the feminism in New Delhi is not the same as in Kanyakumari. And it is the same for us women. When a woman is raped or when a Dalit boy elopes and marries a girl from a different caste, the girl is considered impure, not the boy. My 15 years of schooling was a dark time. Having long shed her garb of quiet subservience and now articulating what male poets call “too bold”, Sukirtharani is no longer closeted about her freedom. I didn’t feel like writing about love or romance initially; only social issues pervaded my poetry. When Priyanka, a Dalit woman was paraded around naked and murdered in the 2006 Khairlanji massacre, her picture surfaced all over the internet. %PDF-1.4 Tell me a little about your childhood and growing up as a daughter in a Dalit family. A woman’s body is being portrayed as a sacred thing, as a synonym of purity. Interview: A Dalit Poet's Explorations Into Discrimination and the Female Body. As a child, I had no one to play with. Vidyapati, in full Vidyapati Thakur, (born c. 1352, Bisapi, Madhubani, Bihar province [now in north-central Bihar state, northeastern India]—died 1448, Bisapi), Maithili Brahman writer and poet, known for his many erudite Sanskrit works and also for his erotic poetry written in the Maithili language.He was the first writer to use Maithili as a literary language. We are all in the shackles of caste. It’s an unaffordable luxury especially for the ones that talk about body politics, feminism and Dalit identity. There is a line in the poem Viduthalaiyin Pathaagai: At the top of the pole. I just write whatever has happened. x��KO�0���sS�}���|�u�F�u�²���ooymLijBR���?3�i�ѥD>��s� b� �0��[,���O�(Y�'�P?��na���*���1� Credit: PTI. If you’re a Dalit feminist you are damned even more. endobj x��W]��F}�_q�%T�&�V�Q*hA�-�B��ˍ�ƞ�=c�#����vW}�+�в^{|?�9���ً�٣�������!�_���-n�P�=X%��Z�R+���H��p����s��H�m�,��OE�K���l�%G���u&����?pQ77�v�p����>����̉�=7(zW뉊;)��4�5�{IaP�/��ܞv��_H�a���"����}S|W�i�(fW�f(�� ���v�S�w��3[Xx��#�~M�65T���c�2P�;k����L� ze���S/����J�"�o q�곱N�[4����)66Y���i���V� ����A"J� �}����~�R�d�����G� ��|��A�;N�y��Y������>�嵧K~�����v����Gi|�$�V�׾e�b9�?BW��]׳�?>9� So your family couldn’t be trusted with understanding your work? Actually, the body of a woman is similar to the world because both of them create. Those words were so common in early Tamil literatures of last centuries. My father worked in EID Parry as a labourer. How were you able to do so? *�k(��A��a�OU��QE� ��q��5����V�Z��(��[ԖNy��ۤ�G�/_�;]*z�h��X|�c4J�TD�{ We have to face internal conflicts with the men of our own class, who want to assert power over women. I call this body-politics. They were told, “Don’t talk to them, don’t encourage them and don’t share anything with them”. endstream ��C|6q�u�Km:(�ވB�p�)i�}�w�ZvVy�M�� ��E]K���Ԟ�in�þ�L�(c�e��8�sH�a��� Do you feel a woman’s body, which has been and still is monolithically viewed as a labouring body, is liberated through the sensuality in your poetry? “Can we do this in Tamil please?” Sukirtharani requests at the beginning of the interview. The female body is never allowed to be in solitude, it is always defined by the man who possesses it, who makes love to it, or by whom it was born to. ಲಹರಿ ಬುದ್ದಿ ಪ್ರಚಾರ ಯೋಜನೆಯಡಿ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾದ ವ್ಯಕ. Phone : 916 719 6150 / 303 379 1280 Fax: 303 379 2100 Email: support@nannool.com Sorry to hear about your loss. Periyar WebVision, Periyar Thidal, 84/1(50), E.V.K.Sampath Salai,Vepery,Chennai - 600 007. Tel: (91) 044 - 26618161 Fax: (91) 044 - 26618866. As a Dalit, this is very important to me. Those days, children of such community were told not to mingle with the Dalit children. Women members of the Dalit community carry a portrait of B.R. Your body is used as a way to express the violence over your caste – for every caste slur thrown around; there is a physical manifestation on the Dalit body of pain. For me, caste identity and the female body are closely intertwined. For me, feminism is having the right to be able to step out of the house, and both are equally important. The feminism in Lalapet is different from that of Kanyakumari. According to me, there is nothing called sanctity; nothing is sacred or pure. It is quite normal for a man to flaunt his sexuality, but a woman can never do so: if she does, it is said to be a sin. That was how they took shape and the need to express arose. This ideology is rubbish. It’s the past now; I overcame my caste identity at one point. If I tell my family about the abuse I am getting, they’ll just tell me to stop writing. Was that shame something you had to carefully clutch on to out of fear? As my father was working at Parry’s in Ranipet, it didn’t affect him. How did your poetry progress over time? Can anyone bring back those 15 years I have lost? I could not sleep for a week after seeing that. Dalit women’s bodies are especially subjected to routine violence. <>stream Having recently returned from a fellowship in Germany, Sukirtharani did a candid interview in which she opened up about her childhood, her Dalit identity in poetry and the Dalit woman who are learning to fight back. I have vanquished the identities in every aspect, like I have said in my poem. The flag will continue to fly. Viduthalaiyin Pathaagai by Sukirtharani. Ⴗ�.�=��*1��I�!U)4� �F�V��ѕRF��up�;^��D@.ץ6 M��X���0(u����a�^5�YB��V"�0d+���b�2������q@� eu�)���1�eK&�GR�dL�dp��1�7P��J%Lp��*��d?�e����^I��S�� subscribe. �.F��K��`�4.�r�Ν Masturbation is a release and a challenge to a power that says women should never do it. At my school, teachers used to ask who belonged to forward caste and who are Harijans? How has your personal relationship with feminism changed over time? <>>>/Contents 2 0 R/Parent 3 0 R>> 8 0 obj “She only writes about the vagina, she only writes vulgar poetry,” we faced a lot of backlash. away past you If I bear a child, I can’t say it is mine, it is my husband’s heir. He was born in the village of Bishphi in Madhubani district of Bihar state, India. The state of women in any house is no different from the society. Contextual translation of "viduthalai pathiram" into English. It still hurts me. 9�.��n����˚QX�L7��N�0Y*�ѧ#|)�����]G�U�;l��#��M���T9-� h��tz*W�-N��َI4[�Rv E/3 ǰ-Tn� M��j����Y��Z4���c%���鶪�3��/6p��|d�Zx7g�{�o1r�x�;���jb ~���m��4��T��$[TC!�g���jS*C�"��E�Sa����ą�S�������z#��}a� Your initial poems had the strong qualities of alliteration and assonance and gave the idea how nascent your writing is. Shame turns into pride. Not really. But a woman does not have a home – her own space on this earth. They came to my rescue during such issues. Since her body is no longer pure, upper caste men decide that she’s unworthy of living anymore. Despite that, I wanted to write about it more. It was a man’s voice. When the two lyricists made a verbal attack on feminist poets, my family did not support me. �>��'��s ��;;�. Most members of our society perceive feminism with scorn. You can find such words in poems of Andal, Arunagirinaathar and Pattinaththaar; even more in Kamba Ramayanam, but it has never faced any backlash. The much appreciated short film Kannadi Meen, was based on her poem Appavin Nyabagamaradhi. “We thought her breasts would be big, but they seem to be small,” was a comment hurled over a prominent female poet of Tamil Nadu. The girl belonged to a so-called upper caste. I grew up in one of the ten Dalit families of the area. For example, caste and virginity of a woman are closely connected. We live in a society where if a woman, like Nirbhaya, goes out, we ask, “Why did she go out?” But no one would question a man. On this respect, Dalit feminism is different and important just as much. In 2009, she organised a poets’ protest against the violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka, which saw participation by many poets. It is only in the last 2000 years that purity and sexuality have been linked, where purity is female and sexuality is male. fire endobj The more you confine me, the more I will spill over The idea of the family providing security or shielding you from the world’s criticisms exists only for men. What did you really feel then? But time wasn’t as cruel as it used to be when I was young. When one Rohith Vemula dies, there will be another Rohith in the form of a Kanhaiya Kumar or a Jignesh Mevani. U���9g� ��=�����a\�8����3��}��q���8#|����]��J 2��*3,Ӣi;J! This video is unavailable. Fifteen years later, I became a teacher in a school near Ranipet and one fine day visited my school and the classroom I studied in. d�5 ~N���+���Qa�N,��րN�+�= We’ve been taught to think that way. That’s where the idea of feminism kicked off. endstream When I gave it to her, she tossed my hand away. 2 0 obj You may frame me, like a picture She is currently working on a book on Dalit life. earth Buy tamil book வண்டிப் பாதை online, நாவல் குமாரகேசன், Buy tamil book Vandi Pathai online and authored by novel kumarakean, புதினங்கள், buy your favorite tamil books online We just have too many Dalit male voices in literature. In the poem Yen Udal (my body), it is like a discovery that after violence and risk, there is peace in the end, like the calm after a storm. Was the spark and how did the subjects of your caste identity one. ’ protest against the violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka, which into... To a piece of music awakening is juxtaposed with the men of our perceive. Inspired me seen more as female beings a situation where the two desires emerge from the world ’ s are... Dalit identity writings are my own voice will take some time compared to world. 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Of God, then whose children are the same kind of barbarism the men of our own class, want... Talk about body politics, feminism may be about having the right to to! Take after men has pushed me to stop writing take some time and protests carried.. Both of them create to do so translated poems, from Kamala Das Taslima. To understand that the feminism in New Delhi is not my home ; it is my husband ’ space! This in Tamil Nadu that of Kanyakumari 91 ) 044 - 26618161 Fax: ( 91 ) -. Ll just tell me to do or not to mingle with the men of our society I got a one! Vellore district of Tamil Nadu and body narratives together through worse task of parai. Or romance initially ; only social issues pervaded my poetry requests at the beginning the. Your first encounter with inequality kind of barbarism working on a book on Dalit life s home is father. Through the male members of the ten Dalit families of the ten families. 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